Canopy of cherry trees
by sugarysaliva
Summary: When the twin brother of Len's best friend asks to walk home together, it makes Len ponder. Mostly about his feelings. About the person walking two steps in front of him. If he'll ever catch up himself.


"Want to walk home from class together?"

The simple, innocent suggestion uttered by the teal-haired boy in front of him startled Len. It wasn't often that he got that question from anyone other than Rin, but her reason for asking was pretty obvious, with them being twins and living in the same house and all. The boy who stood before him, leaning over Len's desk, didn't really have a reason like that. Besides, the only form of acquaintance Len had with this boy, Mikuo Hatsune, was the few words of small talk they had exchanged between each other between duet-recordings, an order to pass the salt at the Hatsune's dinner table, and occasionally a word or two during class. The two of them weren't close at all, even though Len just _happened_ to be close, or perhaps "best" friends with Miku, Mikuo's twin sister. The infamous diva of the virtual world, the girl who outshone, and always would outshine all other vocaloids. Not that Len minded that though, but he didn't want to imagine himself in Mikuo's position, with all the expectations he must have on him by being said diva's twin brother.

Though, Len wouldn't know. To him, Mikuo had always been the cool, calm, unreachable "older" brother of his best friend, the one who would sigh and shake his head with a small smirk while Len himself and Miku had an all-out brawl accompanied with outbursts of joy and defeat while playing video games for countless hours in Miku's living room.

The sound of a slight cough from Mikuo was heard, dragging Len back from his thoughts, making him realize he hadn't answered.

"Y-Yeah, sure!"

Len tugged at the sleeves of his school uniform while the soles of his shoes scraped against the pavement, next to Mikuo's. Looking down at his feet, he managed to reply shortly to the attempts at small talk Mikuo made. Why was it that Len felt so awkward around Mikuo? He knew that the answer was probably his shyness, but, it felt as something more. Len couldn't put his finger on what, though. Because he was that unreachable twin brother to his best friend? Possibly.

Len actually managed to initiate a pretty well-flowing discussion about that new game he was eagerly awaiting the release-date on, when Mikuo suddenly stopped. They were a bit more than three-quarters of the way home from school. They lived on the same street, the Kagamine's house was just across the road from the Hatsune's.

Len, who had yet to notice Mikuo's sudden stop, continued walking, talking loudly to himself, making excited gestures with his arms, until he heard a loud laugh behind him. Freezing up, Len turned to see that Mikuo in fact had stopped, and Len's cheeks became flushed with embarrassment. So like him to get worked up like that. Mikuo walked up to him with a wide smile, still chuckling.

"Man, you sure are a funny guy sometimes, Len. It's amusing to see you so excited." He chuckled again, and Len grunted in response. After a few seconds of silent laughter, and then just silence, Mikuo looked up at the trees above them, his facial expression calm, almost somewhat stern. Len was once again reminded of "the unreachable brother". He wondered if he could see Mikuo as anything but that.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

The sudden sound of Mikuo's voice made Len turn his gaze in the same direction, and now he actually took the time to acknowledge his surroundings. The leaves above them were light pink. No, they weren't leaves. Cherry blossoms. Huh. Len hadn't even remembered that hanami was just around the corner. Mumbling a soft "yeah", he looked down at his feet. Folding his arms, Mikuo turned to him.

"You're an interesting person, Len."

The compliment caught him off guard, and Len looked up at Mikuo, his face a tad redder than before.

"U-Uhm. Thanks."

Mikuo smiled at his reply, and pulled his fingers through that remarkable teal hair, eyeing Len up and down with eyes the same color. And with seeing that smile, Len's cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink. What was this feeling? It was embarrassment, but also… what was it?

"Yeah. "

Mikuo nodded slightly, before continuing their walk home, which normally would've been finished by now. But Len didn't follow immediately after. Instead, he gazed at the shape of Mikuo's back, moving further and further away from him.

_Unreachable…_

Maybe not so much, maybe not now.

Could it be that the weird, warm feeling inside him was… love?

Mikuo stopped yet again, and turned his head back, looking at Len.

"…You coming?"

Len was silent for a moment, but he looked back, with a small smile.

"Yeah. I am."

Whatever these new (or perhaps just newly discovered) feelings were, he was going to finish this walk home. Together with the unreachable, teal-haired boy.


End file.
